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Opening Ceremony launching fashion magazine for ‘new generation'

louis vuitton outletOpening Ceremony is launching a fashion magazine this August, called OC Annual, with the specialty store aiming for it to become a "collectible publication for a new generation."

The on-trend store, which has locations in New York, Tokyo and Los Angeles, is feting its 10th anniversary this year, and founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim hope to follow in the footsteps of iconic fashion publications such as high street store Benetton's Colors magazine.

"As magazine fanatics, O.C. founder Humberto Leon and myself are aiming to create a collectible publication for a new generation, something beautiful and special in the vein of Benetton's ‘Colors,' Comme des Garçons' ‘Six' and Joe McKenna's ‘Joe.'," wrote Lim in an internal memo obtained by WWD.

"We want to make a magazine that will appeal to kids in Nebraska as much as industry people."

With major fashion photographers including Bruce Weber, Walter Pfeiffer, Todd Cole and Tim Barber already lined up, each issue of the collectible fashion and culture magazine will have a particular theme, with the debut edition to focus on sport in honor of the upcoming London Olympics.

louis vuitton outlet onlineThe Olympics is also the theme of US Vogue's June issue, which features soccer star Hope Solo, tennis player Serena Williams and swimmer Ryan Lochte on the Annie Leibovitz-shot cover.

Historic 'Beau Sancy' gem for sale next week

red bottom shoesGlittering atop a succession of royal crowns, the 35-carat "Beau Sancy" diamond has been witness to 400 years of European history.

Now the jewel, passed down through the royalty of France, England, the Netherlands and Prussia, could leave its noble past behind when it is sold at auction in Geneva next week.

The gem is being auctioned at one of three multi-million dollar sales over as many days in the city, featuring the jewels of queens, film stars and billionaires alike.

"The Beau Sancy is one of the most fascinating and romantic gems ever to appear at auction," said David Bennett of sellers Sotheby's, who estimates its value at $2 million-$4 million (1.5 million-3 million euros).

"One client I showed it to was moved to tears by it," he said.

The pear-shaped diamond's royal connections date back to 1604 when it was bought for Henri IV of France at the insistence of his wife Marie de Medici who wore it atop her crown at her coronation.

Later that century it was acquired by the Dutch and used to seal the wedding of Willem II of Orange Nassau to Mary Stuart, daughter of Charles I of England.

red bottomsStuart pawned the rose-cut gem to finance her brother Charles II's fight for the throne.

In 1702 the first king of Prussia gave it pride of place in the new royal crown and it has passed through generations of the House of Prussia until today.

"We've sold much larger diamonds but it has this wonderful romantic history, an unparalleled royal history -- it has never been in non-royal hands," said Bennett.

The Beau Sancy will go under the hammer on May 15 as part of Sotheby's "Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels" sale, also featuring a historic yellow diamond once the property of Charles Edward Stuart, one-time pretender to the thrones of Great Britain and Ireland.

More commonly known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie", his attempts to make the Stuarts regain the crown failed and following the Battle of Culloden in 1745 he went into exile in France and Italy, where he is thought to have offered the 7.3-carat gem to the Corsini family in gratitude of their support.

It has an estimated value of $300,000 to $500,000.

cheap red bottom shoesA collection of 70 jewels belonging to billionaire philanthropist Lily Safra is meanwhile expected to raise more than $20 million for charity when it is auctioned by Christie's on May 14.

Brazil-born Safra, 77, was married to the Jewish-Lebanese banker Edmond Safra who died in a blaze at his Monte-Carlo penthouse in 1999.

The Elton John AIDS foundation, a water treatment programme in Brazil and children's hospital in Israel are among 20 charitable institutes to benefit from the sale of the gems, many of them created specially for Safra by renowned Paris jeweller JAR.

A ruby-encrusted camelia brooch is expected to fetch up to$1.5 million and a pair of pear-shaped, 19-carat diamond earclips are worth an estimated $5 million.

On May 16, Christie's will host a "Sparkling Jewels" sale featuring a necklace set from the collection of Mexican screen actress Maria Felix (1914-2002) and a diamond once famously refused by Hollywood star and jewellery queen Elizabeth Taylor.

The 23.6-carat brown-orange coloured stone was offered to Taylor by Richard Burton in 1975 while the couple were in Africa, according to Christie's.

Taylor is said to have refused the gift, arguing that the money should rather be spent on building a hospital in Botswana.

www.redbottomshoesite.comThe gem set into a ring is expected to fetch $600,000 to $800,000.

Moscow show recalls fashion behind the Iron Curtain

red bottom shoesMOSCOW (Reuters) - A sweeping new Moscow fashion exhibit illustrates the evolution of Soviet couture behind the Iron Curtain from the post World War One era to Perestroika.

"Fashion behind the Iron Curtain" at the 16th-century Tsaritsyno estate on Moscow's outskirts spans seven decades of female coquetry, describing how Soviet women made do with silk night gowns for theatre, acquired designer items and scrounged for fabric to satisfy a hunger for style in spite of shortages.

The retrospective offers glimpses of the sophisticated, Western-inspired dress of the Communist-era elite.

Elegant crepe-de-Chine dresses, furs, evening gloves, hats and designer heels worn by famous ballerinas, actresses and other personalities draw an arc through history displaying over 1,000 looks from 1920s to 1990s.

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's daughter Galina shocked her peers with a risqué floral mini dress, while ballerina Galina Ulanova wore Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo pumps, inaccessible to most at the height of the Cold War.

red bottom heelsVisitors have flocked to the exhibit open through mid-June to see other looks, such as the sexy red strapless dress that earned Soviet actress Klara Luchko the nickname the "Red Bomb" at the 1962 Cannes film festival.

Fashion is a rare window into history that speaks to the modern-day, style-conscious public, exhibit curator Irina Korotkikh said.

"The main purpose is to show to the young and those who lived under the USSR that fashion did exist," she told Reuters.

"Soviet women were elegant in spite of the economic and political situation," she said.

Faced with scarcity under the planned Soviet economy, Korotkikh said many women queued - sometimes overnight - for prized bits of fabric and patterns to sew their own dresses.

"I love the fashion of those years because there were no puffy down jackets, there were beautiful dresses," said museum visitor Yelena Yeliseyeva, 60, a retired aeronautical engineer.

"Fashion existed in the Soviet Union and it was very beautiful," she said.

red sole shoesRelatively new to local museums, fashion exhibits have rapidly become popular with the public. Visitors came in record numbers to see Christian Dior dresses at the Pushkin museum and designs by revolutionary French couturier Paul Poiret at the Kremlin Museums last year.

Monthly style indicator: Round shades and fedoras dominate most popular accessories

gucci outletFashionistas have been on a quest for the ultimate in festival chic, with round sunglasses by labels including The Row and Dries Van Noten among the most viewed items on online style sharing community Polyvore during the past month.

The site's latest Intelligence Report cites circular shades as the month's biggest accessories trend, with the style popularized by celebrities including Lauren Conrad and Dita Von Teese at last month's Coachella music festival in California running ahead of other shapes. Other fans of round frames include Lady Gaga, Beyoncé Knowles and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

The latter's own label The Row has earned 21,662 views on the site for its round frames, while other popular brands include Angelina Jolie's favorite Barton Perreira, Selima Sun® for J.Crew sunglasses and Thierry Lasry's patterned styles. But it was a pair of dark grey marble printed shades by Dries Van Noten x Linda Farrow that clocked up the most views -- 94,750.

Other festival accessory staples dominating Polyvore include straw hats, with a Biltmore® straw fedora earning 324,684 views on the site. Such styles were all over last month's Coachella music festival in California, with the likes of Emma Roberts and Vanessa Hudgens favoring the look.

Meanwhile, the wedge sneaker trend is still refusing to budge, with Isabel Marant's high tops still number one in a compilation of top incoming searches to the site.

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